Tangled
by NuttyRoyale
Summary: We're all to blame at one point or another, and all of us need to tell our stories. [AU]
1. Bizarre Love Triangle

**Author's Notes:** recommended listening for this: "Tangled" by Maroon 5.

I got the idea for this story one day while reading a thread at a message board discussing unconventional couples. I mentioned that I liked Craig/Emma, and that I would have rather liked an Ashley/Craig/Emma triangle in season three. So I thought about that idea quite a bit, and the idea of it kept coming back to me over and over. And I decided that I might as well give it a shot. Why not?

This story is an _AU_, meaning alternate universe. Basically, all of the events from season three (and maybe later seasons) are totally different than what happened on the show. Oh, certain things will still be there (most likely everything up until "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"), but after that nothing will be as it was on the show. Also, I'm thinking of writing this with alternating narration—this chapter's told by Emma, the next one might be by Craig or Ashley, something like that. Do you get it? g

As always: _Degrassi_ and the characters of are not mine. I hope you enjoy.

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"_Mi casa es su casa_."

Maybe that's when it started. I can't really be sure. All I know is that after his attempt to run away, I'd said that to him. It might have even been when I came over to watch Angie once, or when Joey dropped Angie off at our house and Craig came with them. I figured that he might like—or want—some company sometimes. It was meant as an open invitation, considering the history between Mom and Dad and Joey. He was the son of an old family friend, and I was obliged to be nice to him. And hey, it didn't hurt that he wasn't that bad to look at either.

There was no real potential for anything between us, and I knew it. He'd asked Manny to dance, and she'd taken him up on the offer. I was upset for a while, but I brushed it off. At least Sean was still there, right? I had that much. Even though we were constantly on and off, he was _there_ and he showed interest. I'd known Sean longer. I could still be just friends with Craig. _Mi casa es su casa,_ after all.

He took me up on that a few times. We didn't hang out in the same way that Manny and I did, of course, and we didn't hang out in the same way that Sean and I did. We kept a friendly distance most of the time, sitting and watching some stupid reality show on TV or something. Once, when Joey came over for some party, Dad (I was still calling him Snake at the time), they'd broken out board games, leaving Craig and I with Scrabble. We ended up playing an extremely laid-back version, using proper nouns and acronyms. When I'd spelled out PETA, he laughed. "That's definitely something you'd put down."

We were getting to know each other a little. He had his photography and his music, and I had my environmentalism. He could be shy with his art sometimes, and for a while he carried his camera around like it was a security blanket. He didn't seem to be able to function without it. He always shot in black and white, explaining that it was easier to develop. "We didn't learn how to process color film in class," he said. But more and more, I began to see him with a guitar, aimlessly strumming a few chords.

Maybe that's what brought Ashley to him. She loved music, he loved music. That's silly for me to say—a lot of couples don't even have mutual interests, and they're drawn to each other. That could've been a factor. You could add the fact that Ashley was smart and a little _deeper_ than some of the other girls at school, that she had managed to become her own person because of what had happened at that party, and Craig might have liked that she was an individual. Well, as much as an individual that anyone can be in high school. The beginning of their relationship was gradual, almost undetectable to a casual observer. But as I looked on, I saw everything. The former popular girl gone social outcast plus the moody, artistic new guy. A perfect match.

Where do I come in, you ask? What do I have to do with any of this? Plenty. But I don't know if it's honestly all my fault. It takes two to tango, so despite what anyone says, I'm not completely at fault. This isn't my way of saying that it's all his fault either. We're all to blame at one point or another, and all of us need to tell our stories so that whatever we hold to be true can be examined and condensed to later form a universal truth.


	2. Summerfling

**Author's Notes:** wow, I didn't mean for it to be _this_ long between updates.

School was kicking my butt (still is, kind of), plus I started to kind of doubt myself when it came to this story. Not to sound like "woe, pity me", but I haven't written a multi-chapter story (well, fan fic) in a while, and all the ones I started before this never really got finished. And I wanted this one to be special, y'know?

I'll try to more consciously update this story—maybe every other week? How's that?

In the meantime: recommended listening for this chapter is "Summerfling" by k.d. lang. As always, _Degrassi_ and the characters of aren't mine. Enjoy.

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The thing I remember the most about the summer between grade nine and grade ten is Craig. After the Luau Dance, we exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch during the summer. I honestly hadn't expected much from it—maybe a call or two in June, and then I wouldn't hear anything from him again until we saw each other in school again in September. After breaking up with Jimmy and all of the drama of the previous school year, I had come to not have many expectations about guys, especially not any of the still somewhat new kid.

So of course I was surprised when he called me the first weekend after the end of school, just to see how I was doing. I was even more surprised when he suggested that we "hang out together and do something. If, well, you're up for that."

I'd laughed. "What do you have in mind?"

We found ourselves at the movie theater in the mall, standing side by side as we surveyed the list of the current releases. He was nervously fidgeting as we waited in line, and I was going through my purse, trying to find money to pay for my ticket. It wasn't a date if he didn't offer to pay—at least, that's what Paige said. She might've been quoting something from an old magazine or something; but she'd said that.

I dropped the money after I put my wallet back. I went to pick it up at the same time as Craig, and he accidentally banged his head against mine. "Ow!" I flinched and let go of the bills again. I started to go for it again, only to have Craig shake his head at me. "Never mind. I've got it." When he handed the money to me, he just smiled and lightly put his hand on my head. "You all right?"

I nodded. "I don't think I suffered from any brain damage. At least, nothing significant."

We sat through the movie—one of those summer blockbusters that features plenty of car chases and explosions. When in doubt, blow things up, I guess. And amazingly, after all that, nothing else happened that closely resembled a scene from a romantic comedy, except for maybe the awkward walk to my door after we left the mall.

"So..." Craig began, sticking his hands into his pockets.

"So..." I echoed. I hoped that Toby wouldn't come to the door and start turning the lights on and off or anything else embarrassing. But then, the one time that he _had_ done that had happened months before, when I'd still been seeing Jimmy. Had it really been that long?

"So." He looked around nervously. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah," I answered, almost anticipating the porch lights flickering. "Yeah, I did."

He moved a little closer to me and stage whispered, "The movie kind of sucked, didn't it?"

I bit my lip to keep from giggling. "I think _kind of_ is an understatement."

He was smiling too. "Okay. You want to choose one for next time? I mean, if you want to go out again?"

_Next time?_ I was actually a little startled. Maybe it was because I'd spent the past year being considered an outcast. People tend not to ask for dates with the girl who took drugs at her own house party and talked trash about the beloved cheerleader; especially not if that girl changes her look and starts wearing black, Goth-style clothes all the time. After a year of people ignoring me or wanting me to be like I was _then_, Craig wanted to take a chance on me _now_.

"That sounds good," I said before turning to put my key in the lock. "I'll call you."

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We didn't go out to another movie. Instead, I invited Craig over to watch movies on a night when everyone else had gone out. We laughed our way through _Tremors_ and this semi-obscure Steven Spielberg move called _1941_. By the time he was getting ready to leave, I had all but gotten a cramp in my side from cracking up, not just at the movies, but at Craig's silly commentary through both of them. I led him to the door, still giggling. "That was fun," I said, trying to control myself.

"Definitely. We should do this again," he said, leaning halfway out the door.

My eyes met his, and I felt shy for a moment. "I'll see you later?"

He gently kissed me, then, catching me completely off-guard. When he stopped, he stared at me for a moment, like he was trying to gauge my reaction. "Later's good."

I grinned. "Later's good. 'Bye."

That night—that _kiss_, even—started the rest of the summer for me.

It's not like I spent every waking hour with Craig. I spent plenty of time with Ellie and even Paige. But Craig was always _there_ in one way or another. He called me practically every night, just to ask how I was. Sometimes we would have the strangest conversations… well, they would've been strange to anyone else who might have overheard them, but to us, at that moment, everything made perfect sense. I told him about my dad, and finding out that he was gay. He told me about his mom, how she'd been sick...

I don't know how we managed to get so close in two and a half months. Looking back, we weren't _that_ close. I might be trying to rationalize everything by saying that, or that I'm telling myself it wasn't that important. It _was_. It _is_. We confided in each other, trusted each other, and expected that it would mean something.

Maybe I just thought I'd mean something to him.

The week before school, we went back to the mall—not to go to a movie, but just to hang out, buy clothes, whatever. We took pictures in one of the photo booths, and for the longest time I kept them stuck in the corner of my bulletin board. In the first frame, we're just looking at each other. In the second, we're both laughing—at what, I can't remember. In the third, we both have bunny ears on each other, still laughing at the camera and something else. The last one was my favorite. My head was on Craig's shoulder, and he kissed my forehead. The only thing I remember about that part is that he squeezed my hand and as the flash went off, he whispered, "This is going to be the best year ever."

Or so we (or maybe just _I_) thought.


End file.
